Magnificent Magenta Maple

ABSTRACT

This invention is of a new and unique variety of Acer rubrum, the red maple or swamp maple, which I have now named `Magnificent Magenta.` I discovered the parent tree, a member of Acer rubrum, growing at the end of a cultivated boundary line row of trees along the eastern property line of a residence in Wathena, Kans. The tree is monecious, has leaves of widely varied size and shape, a rounded crown, and an unusual and attractive fall coloration which is long lasting before leaf fall.

BACKGROUND AND SUMMARY OF THE VARIETY

Brilliant, unique magenta fall leaf color. The primary attribute of thistree which commanded my attention was its true magenta fall leaf colorwhich is a brilliant, eye-catching red-violet. My observation that theparent tree had superior fall leaf color was confirmed by experts at theKansas State University arboretum who compared leaves from the parentwith those of various cultivars including `Red Sunset,` October Glory,`and standard trees of the Acer rubrum species. Trees of the species havefall leaf color ranging from yellow to dull red to bright red, but noneare known to exhibit the striking magenta of this cultivar. Having amagenta fall leaf color enables this tree to fill another niche in thelist of trees with purplish shades of fall leaf color which have becomeincreasingly popular in recent years.

Onset, length and durability of fall leaf color. This variety normallyassumes its fall leaf color in late September here in the heart ofAmerica. It usually lasts about six weeks which provides color intoearly November.Observation in recent years demonstrates that the leafcolor can survive one or more hard frosts which terminate the leaf colorof other trees thus providing color when other trees are already losingtheir leaves.

Specimens three or more years old planted in the ground and adequatelywatered and fertilized will provide rapid growth of at least 11/2 to twofeet per year which is a desirable rate of growth for a red maple.

Dense, symmetrical crown. Another desirable characteristic of thisvariety is that it has a well-shaped, compact, symmetrical oval crown asgood as the red maple "Northwood", U.S. Plant Pat. No. 5,053.

My continued observation of the specimens propagated asexually from theparent in 1977 has convinced me that this desirable combination ofbrilliant, persistent, magenta fall leaf color and well-shaped, compact,symmetrical oval crown is unique and distinguishes thiscultivar from thespecies and all other varieties thereof known to me.

ASEXUAL REPRODUCTION

I rooted stem cuttings from the parent tree under continuous mist duringthe hours of sunlight in the summer of 1977 and have subsequentlytransplanted the ones which rooted into increasingly larger containersas they grew.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING

Sheet One of the drawing shows the tree, in side view, with itsdistinctive magenta fall coloration;

Sheet Two depicts the same tree, from nearly the same angle, during thesummer;

Sheet Three is a close-up color photo which depicts the flowers of thevariety;

Sheet Four is a close-up showing the fruiting habit and samaracoloration;

Sheet Five is a hand rendered drawing which depicts several of thevaried leaf shapes which are formed by the tree; and,

Sheet Six is a color photographic showing of the tree in bloom stagebefore leaf break, showing floral coloration and the branching habit ofthe new maple tree.

SUMMARY OF CHARACTERISTICS OF THE CULTIVAR

All color references hereinafter are to: Color: Universal Language andDictionary of Names, by Kenneth L. Kelly and Deane B. Judd, NationalBureau of Standards (U.S.), Publ. 440, (Dec. 1976) and ISCC-NBSColor-Name Charts Illustrated with Centroid Colors, by Kenneth L. Kelly,National Bureau of Standards (U.S.), Supplement to NBS Circular 553.Color terms of ordinary dictionary usage are also occasionally used.

PROPAGATION

I propagated the specimen trees by rooting cuttings from the parent treeunder continuous mist during the hours of daylight in Wathena, Kans., in1977. I have grown the resulting genetically identical specimens fromthat time primarily in Wathena, Kans. Since the specimens werereproduced by rooted cuttings rather than by grafting scions onrootstocks from other members of the Acer rubrum specie, there is nopossibility of a rootstock affecting the growth and characteristics ofthe specimens. Resulting specimens are identical to the parent in alldistinguishing characteristics proving the plant to be stable.

TREE

Form -- This variety has a compact, well-shaped, symmetrical oval crownwhich is much more desirable than the somewhat loosely shaped crowntypical of the species as a whole. This compact crown results from thefact that the main branches form an angle of normally no morethanfifteen degrees (15°) with each other and are more numerous thanusual. The angles formed by the main branches with the main trunkprogresses from ten degrees (10°) for the innermost branches to fortydegrees (40°) for the outside branches. The smallness of the anglebetween the branches themselves causes the crown to be compact with awell-rounded symmetrical oval shape, rather than the loosely-formed,less symmetrical crown more typical of the species as a whole.

An additional benefit of the desirable crown characteristics of thiscultivar is that specimens propagated asexually from this tree would beless expensive to grow to marketable size in a nursery because theywould require less labor for pruning to a shape which would appeal tothe average retail buyer.

Trunk -- The bark of the trunk of the young specimens is smooth and alight gray in color, ISCC-NBS #10 pinkgray. The bark of the older,mature parent tree is rough and a darker gray. The original tree has aheight of only approximately forty-five (45') feet at maturity which isconsiderably less than the maximum height of seventy-five to one hundredfeet (75'-100') usually cited as normal for the species. If thisdiminished height is not due to some limiting effect of the particularsoil or climate here, that characteristic would make this variety farmore desirable for use as a street tree than the normally larger membersof the species. Unfortunately there is no way to determine this untilthe asexually propagated specimens reach maturity which is a good manyyears away.

Branches -- The parent tree has no main, central leader above the maintrunk. Plural, very upright stems branch out into several mainnear-vertical branches about nine feet (9') above the ground. Thebranches of the parent tree have only a small angle between each otheras noted above, but have shown no clear sign of weakness. The bark ofthe branches and trunk of the young specimens is a smooth, light gray,ISCC-NBS #10, pink gray. The trunk and branches of the parent tree arerougher and darker gray in color, somewhere in between ISCC-NBS #264,light gray, and #265, medium gray. The spread of the tree is equal toapproximately ninety percent of the height of the tree.

Foliage -- The upper side of the stems of the leaves are the same coloras the buds and blossoms, a bright red, ISCC-NBS #13, deep red. Theunder sides of the stems shade from this color to a light green,ISCC-NBS #119, light yellow green. The petioles vary from 4 cm to 10 cmin length depending on the size of the leaf.

The leaves are palmate with three to seven, but normally five or sevenlobes. The leaf shapes are widely variable in both shape and size; basalleaf portions may have two or four lobes of disparate shapes. Theoutermostthree lobes are more uniformly steeple-shaped in plan. Themargins of the leaves are serrated with two to three serrations percentimeter. Serrations are not uniform. This maple has leaves of variedsizes: typically a range of smaller leaves approximately 6-7 cm wide×6-7cm long to larger leaves of approximately 9-10 cm wide×8 cm long areproduced.

The color of the upper side of the lamina or leaf blade in summer is adesirable #137, dark yellowish green. The underside of the leaves ismuch lighter green, ISCC-NBS #122, gray yellow green. The upper side ofthe leaf is glabrous. The underside of the leaf is glabrous except atthe point where the veins join the petiole at the bottom of the laminawhere there is a small amount of pubescence between the veins.

The overall fall leaf color of ISCC-NBS #260, very dark purple red, inthe color photographs is as close tothe actual color seen by the humaneye as I could achieve with a 35 mm camera. However, the true fall coloras perceived upon viewing it is a more vivid, true magenta which iscloser to a color midway between color ISCC-NBS #256, deep purplish red,and ISCC-NBS #257, very deep purplish red. This is a result of the factthat this maple has a wide range of sizes of leaves, with leaves ofvaried size and exposure leaving a different, pleasing range of fallcolor. The smaller leaves are initially a bright red (color #11, vividred) which eventually deepens to color #260 very dark purplish red)shortly before leaf fall. The larger leaves have a margin of colorISCC-NBS #257, very deep purplish red, with a center of color ISCC-NBS#260 very dark purplish red. Very shortly before leaf fall, both sizesof leaves entirely turn to color ISCC-NBS #260, very dark purlish red.The overall effect is an attractive striking magenta.

From the initial appearance of fall leaf color until shortly before leaffall, the rays of light reflected from these two different colors ofleaves are combined in the eye to be perceived as a brilliant magentabetween color ISCC-NBS #256, deep purplish red, and ISCC-NBS #257, verydeep purplish red, not altogether captured by the camera. On a brightfall day the color of the leaves is so intense that it literally appearsto shimmer in the crisp air.

With the increase in popularity of purplish leaf color in shrubs andtrees in recent years, this variety of Acer rubrum should be a valuableaddition to the varieties already commercially available.

Flower Buds and Flowers -- The buds and blossoms are bright red,ISCC-NBS #13, deep red. The buds are approximately three centimeters (3cm) in diameter and are obovate in shape. In Wathena, Kans. theflowering usually begins in late March to early April depending, onyearly climatic conditions. The size of the flowers varies from 11/2 cmto 5 cm for the total distance from the end of the pedicel to theanthers. This variety is monoecious because it has both male and femaleflowers.

Seeds -- The disamaras are typical of the species. The wings of theimmature samaras are the same bright red as the flowers. ISCC-NBS #13,deep red, while the seed itself is a light green, ISCC-NBS #116,brilliant yellow green. The ripe samaras are a light brown, ISCC-NBS#76, light yellow brown; the seed itself is ISCC-NBS #56, deep brown;and, the tip of the seed is ISCC-NBS #59, dark brown. The samaras varyfrom 2 cm to 21/2 in length and from 1/2 cm to 1 cm in width at thewidest part of the wing of the samara. A medium quantity of seed isborne. The seed matures toward the end of April in most years anddispersion is normally complete by early May.

General Characteristics -- Compared to other members ofAcer rubrum, thisnew variety exhibits a unique and desirable magenta fall leaf color, awell-shaped, compact, symmetrical oval crown, adequately rapid growth,and possibly a mature size sufficiently smaller than other members ofthe species to make its ultimate size superior for street planting.

I claim:
 1. A new and unique variety of red maple, Acer rubrum, asdescribed and illustrated, being particularly distinguished as tonovelty by a combination of the shape of the tree which exhibits adesirable well-shaped, compact, symmetrical oval crown in contrast tothe species which is often loosely shaped and much less compact, and abrillant, true magenta fall leaf color quite unlike that of othermembers of the species and any patented variety; the vivid magentaexhibited during most of the fall leaf color period dictates the name Ihave chosen for this tree: `Magnificent Magenta Maple.`